Republicans Blow With the Wind

Another industry wants to keep its taxpayer subsidies.

March 7, 2012

Congress finally ended decades of tax credits for ethanol in December, a small triumph for taxpayers. Now comes another test as the wind-power industry lobbies for a $7 billion renewal of its production tax credit.

The renewable energy tax credit—mostly for wind and solar power—started in 1992 as a "temporary" benefit for an infant industry. Twenty years later, the industry wants another four years on the dole, and Senator...